Oh boy. New Jersey is where our stress levels were highest. We had endured some stress in Delaware the previous night, and I think we really rose to the occasion, but we weren't prepared for the stress of New Jersey.
Without mentioning any names, our head carpenter had been causing lots of problems among the crew. Keep in mind, New Jersey was only our 5th stop (out of 20); and that's a bit early for lots of drama.
Anyway, some stuff had happened behind the scenes in Delaware, and it blew up in New Jersey. This would be our head carpenters last show.
That aside, what made New Jersey difficult for the cast were all the things that we had to cut out of the show--more than we've ever had to cut out before (to my recollection).
We cut more trees and more peaks than the previous night, Rudolph didn't fly, no room for Santa's throne in one of the scenes (first time for that), and more.
First time in my memory that we had to cut the Bumble (abominable snow monster) entirely from the show. We didn't cut the sound or the words in the script about the Bumble, because that's impossible, but the giant puppet couldn't fit on or off stage, so we had to cut it. BUT he still has to make some sort of appearance, including trapping Clarice (Rudolph's romantic interest) in a cave and later putting the star atop the Christmas tree. None of that was actually possible.
Our fix: one hand of the Bumble would reach out from behind the curtain and move up and down indicating danger; and later the same arm would reach out and "magically" put the star on the tree.
Do you know the term "curtain call"? That's what happens at the end of a show where the actors all come out and take a bow to the hopeful applause of the audience. In our show, we include a bow for the Bumble. Usually the Bumble walks out on stage and takes a bow like the rest of us. What do you do when there is nothing but a Bumble arm in your show?
The arm waves from behind the curtain.
That's all.
That sums up our day in New Jersey. Oh, and we had TWO shows that day.
Saw the Empire State Building from my hotel room--
That's all for now. Long travel day across the entire state of Pennsylvania next and one show in New Philadelphia, Ohio.
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